The Queen will lead University College's 750th birthday celebrations tomorrow.

But some may wonder how Bill Clinton's old college has managed to become 250 years younger over the last 127 years.

Nobody will mention it during the Royal visit, but way back in 1872 University College actually celebrated its 1,000th birthday with a giant banquet.

It means the little matter of 377 years of history have somehow gone missing - along with Univ's claim to the undisputed title of Oxford's oldest college. And now we know the college's proud link with another monarch King Alfred the Great, the college's supposed founder, is also entirely bogus. The connection with the first great hero of English history all comes down to dirty goings on at the college, some 600 years after Alfred's death.

David Horan, who has just written a new guide to Oxford and its history, explained the dodgy basis of the Alfred link.

"There was never any hint of a connection with either University College or the University itself before 1381 when, during a costly dispute over property rights, certain Univ Fellows forged documents.

"They forged them to suggest that King Alfred had founded the college and therefore the present King Richard II, should be its protector in this dispute. "For some reason, the King went along with the college cause and the the new Alfred link served the college well for centuries." During a dispute over appointing a new Master in 1727, for instance, Univ again appealed to the Crown and the King Alfred fiction was established as fact in law.

The Millennium celebration in 1872 showed how the college authorities themselves ended up taking the dubious proof to heart and their royal patron was toasted in elaborate style.

But thankfully not everyone could go along with the self-deception. The historian E.A. Freeman excused himself from being present, sending along in his place two burnt cakes, a cutting reference to the most famous folk story about Alfred.

The Master of University College, Lord Butler of Brock- well, has no doubt 750 years is reason enough to celebrate. The former Cabinet Secretary said: "A life of three-quarters of a Millennium deserves to be recognised and celebrated. The events we have planned will make this a notable year in Univ's long history."

The Queen will become the first reigning monarch to visit the college since 1686. When the Queen last visited University College in 1947, she did so as Princess Elizabeth. As well as bringing the Queen to Oxford, University College has also enlisted the support of Tony Blair for its birthday celebration. The Prime Minister gave the first of a series of lectures to mark the college's 750th anniversary.

The theme of the lectures is Builders of the Millennium and last month Mr Blair gave the first on Lord Beveridge, the former Master of the college, who is regarded as the founder of the welfare state. Other events being planned include a concert for Old Members, two commemoration balls, a family open day and a celebration for North American Old Members in Washington, which it is hoped President Clinton will attend.

Story date: Thursday 20 May

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.